I think tiers should stay. As redundant as they might seem in some ways, they are a way to sort of show off how much you've invested in the forum, and all incentives to help run PC are good imo.
Even for those who received their supportership as a gift or in a competition - we shouldn't feel ashamed or undeserving. Participating actively in competitions and events is another way to make PC thrive, and the fact that supportership is given out as prices prooves how much that is worth! As for gifts, if it hadn't been for you, the one who paid might not have paid, and seeing you become a supporter obviously meant much to them. Don't feel bad about whatever way you got into the greenness, please.
I don't have a definite opinion on what ranks should be let into the VIP forum, but I can imagine the green name and access to here is what drives many to donate so if they got that at tier 1, they might be satisfied and stop there. I might have done that, sadly, since I don't exactly have an immense wealth to spread around.
Blog should work, and the overall word spreading about all supporters being allowed to join supporter collabs. :)
